Third conspirator pleads guilty in plot to kidnap San Diegans

Antonio Zermeno Garcia has joined co-defendants Luis Miguel Salas Rodriguez and Carlos Alberto Andrade-De La Cruz in pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit kidnapping, U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy has announced. His partners in crime had already pleaded guilty in April.

The three admit that, in March 2012, they hatched a plan to kidnap three individuals in San Diego who allegedly owed them money related to drug trafficking activities, and then transport them across the border to Tijuana.

Andrade-De La Cruz also has confirmed that he was the leader of the plot, and illegally entered the United States in order to locate one of the three intended victims.

Andrade-De La Cruz and Salas Rodriguez face sentencing on July 19, the sentencing date for Zermeno Garcia is set for August 12. The maximum penalty under the conspiracy charge is life imprisonment.